Бао-пресс

At Library. My School Library (1)

Libraries are very important in the life of all people. We
can't buy all the books we want to read. That's why we take
out books from libraries.
A lot of people go to libraries on Saturdays. They have
some time to spare, because Saturday is a day off. They bring
their books to the library and go home taking new books.

The librarians take books from the people who come in and

give them some new books to choose for reading at home.
In a book there is a little pocket and in this pocket there is
a piece of paper. The librarian takes this piece of paper out of
the pocket in the book. She fills it in, that is, puts the date on
the piece of paper and on the right page of the book. Then she
puts the piece of paper in the person's reading card.
Speaking about libraries it is necessary to admit that
Moscow holds the first place among all the other cities of the
world for the number of its libraries. The largest library in
the world is the State Lenin Library with an overall fund of
21 million various titles in 166 languages.
It has 22 reading-rooms, special halls for scientific reference
work, for children and youth, for current periodicals, reference
books, manuscripts and for other purposes.
The library has a book exchange service with 60 countries
of the world.
I enjoy reading books. And it doesn't matter what kind
of book it is. It can be a collection of short stories, a book of
poems or adventures. I equally enjoy them all. But there's
one thing that matters. When I choose a book for reading, it
shouldn't be dull but interesting.
I used to get some of my books from my school library. I
must admit our school library had a good stock of books and
the librarian was always ready to help in one's choice of
books. A great number of volumes filled the shelves. One
could find there books of adventure stories, historical novels
and tales that opened up panoramas of life and history of
other countries, psychological novels, collections of short stories,
the immortal classics.
Our school library subscribed to several newspapers and
magazines. They kept us well informed about the latest
developments in this country and abroad, news in the spheres
of science, art and literature.
Though I attend libraries on a regular basis, I buy quite
a lot of books too, particularly those that I read before and
enjoyed reading. I like to have them in my room so that I
can turn to them not only once but time and again. I derive
an utmost pleasure from sitting in the room where my books
are and even if I am not reading them, I like to look at the
books on the shelves and to feel that I have my friends
around me, friends that will never let you down, that will
never betray you.

Questions:

1. Why do we take books from libraries?
2. When do a lot of people go to libraries?
3. Why do a lot of people go to libraries on Saturday?
4. What do librarians do when people come to libraries?
5. What is there in the pocket of a book?
6. Which city holds the first place in the world for the
number of books?
7. What is the largest library of this country?
8. What is the overall fund of the State Lenin Library?
9. What halls are there in the Lenin Library?
10. What books could one find in your school library?
11. Did your school subscribe to any newspapers and
magazines?
12. Do you buy books?
13. What do you derive an utmost pleasure from?

Vocabulary:

to buy (bought, bought) — покупать
to have some time to spare — иметь свободное время
to bring (brought, brought) — приносить
a day off — выходной
to choose (chose, chosen) — выбирать
to fill in — заполнять
reading card — карточка читателя
to admit — признать
to hold (held, held) the first place — занимать первое
место
an overall fund of — общий фонд
various — разнообразный, различный
scientific reference work — работа с научной справочной
литературой
periodicals — периодические издания
reference books — справочники
manuscripts — рукописи
to be housed — размещаться
dull — скучный
a good stock of books — хороший выбор, собрание книг
volume — том
psychological — психологический
novel — роман
to subscribe to — подписываться (на периодику)
magazine — журнал
to keep smb. well-informed — держать в курсе, информи-
ровать
on a regular basis — регулярно